Aliens

I think I figured it out!! The answer is ALIENS! I know that you are thinking to yourself, “If Aliens are the answer then what the hell is the question?” What could possibly get all humans to rewrite our story and unite all humanity, is the question at hand. The answer is aliens! No not nice benevolent aliens that want to share knowledge and technology with us backward but promising humans in an effort to foster intergalactic relations and advancement. No, I’m talking about big bad ass destroy the world and all the humans on it, kind of aliens! I know it sounds crazy but just hear me out.

First the aliens would have to attack without giving a reason. Not because we are using up the resources, nothing about the nefarious nature of human’s, no reasons whatsoever, it’s just because this is what they want to do. The reason I believe this is a good starting point is because when the war is eventually over no one country or group of humans can then point to the other and say, “you guys with all of your pollution were the real cause of all this.” It is NO one’s fault, there is nothing any country did or did not do that led to the destruction, and no country no matter how remote will be spared. 

Next over half of humanity will need to perish, hopefully, the older generations would be the bulk of the early casualties. Forcing the youth to endure the hard job of rising to the challenge with innovation and resilience. Getting rid of the older generations also would serve to shed a lot of negative  perspectives generated from years of identity politics, prejudice, and biases passed down from generation to generation. I know many of us older folk don’t think the young folk are up to the task, but they are, it may take a while and a lot of death before they do but I have no doubt that they can pull it off. Past generations did a lot with what they had at the time when faced with what seemed to be daunting or insurmountable challenges and so will the next generation.

Another important aspect of the attack is that it must be global, and it MUST last for at least fifty to one hundred years. The global component would create a situation where all humans have to work together on some level to  vanquish the threat. There would be no country exempt even third world country citizens would have to have an active role in saving humanity. Every human would be needed and seen as important to the survival of our species. The length of the struggle would need to be long in order to generate new paradigms and world structures that promoted the general well being and advancement of the human race as a whole. The length of the struggle has to be great to dissolve the current xenophobic mentality that is pervasive around the world. The battle would be demoralizing and drag on so long that we would come to rely on people we never imagined that we would.  Information and technology would need to be online in every corner of the globe to ensure survival. Everyone would be trained at young ages to support the fight. Farmers, teachers, scientists, and every person would hold a position of value through the prism of overcoming the struggle.  The length would give us time to redesign society, adapt and blend culture, and to create new systems that were more in line with the new global perspective.

Lastly when the major battle is eventually overcome there must still be an ongoing threat and battles that last for a year, that pop up every decade or so, this is for maintenance purposes. If we had a quick battle and no future threats we would soon have no mandated reason to remain united and as such it will be our normal inclination to separate back into our own individual groups and start new tribal traditions and foster attempts to revive the old ways (make Indonesia great again).  To avoid this normal facet of human nature there must be a consistent and ongoing need for cooperation on a global scale. 

I know this all sounds so extreme and would lead to the death of billions of people but for humans to achieve world peace in a relatively short period (50-100 years) it’s worth it, right? Well unless you are in the billions that perish, but it’s for the greater, dare I say the greatest good. The unification of all humanity into a peaceful cohesive planet in  less than 100 years is a miracle! So what, if it costs a few billion human lives to achieve. All humanity will benefit from that sacrifice for all time. Well until our sun explodes at least. This is the quick and dirty fix and most people want the quick fix but rarely want the dirt that comes with it. There are alternatives to the alien solution, but none will have solid resolutions within 100 years. This idea of a united human world goes against our natural evolved way of being. Humans are social but there are limits, our natural inclination is to care the most about close relations and communities to which we belong over humans we have never met and probably never will. This is at the core of the struggle to end all hate, racism, xenophobia, and genocide.   There are no shortcuts on this evolutionary path, save some incredible global challenge (like my alien scenario). 

 I am in no way saying that world peace is impossible, I have just made peace with the notion that it is a gradual ongoing process that will take a long long long time to achieve. No, I will probably not make it to the promised land but much like Moses and Dr. King I have been to the mountaintop and have seen all the promise that dwells in humanity. I am happy and not worried about the future that humanity must not only face but also the future we must create. We are more than capable, and I believe that we will find our way to a more peaceful existence and become a more humane world. We just have to keep doing the work and move with patients and understanding as we move forward.